Many people experience back pain. Back pain, however, is a symptom that can occur from a number of different causes, such as, for example, arthritic facets, degenerating discs, pinched nerves, or the like. Determining the source of the back pain is often one of the challenges in treating the symptom.
Some back pain is caused by degeneration or other deformity of the intervertebral disc (“diseased disc”). Conventionally, surgeons treat diseased discs by surgically removing the diseased disc and inserting an implant in the space vacated by the diseased disc, which implant may be bone or other biocompatible implants. The adjacent vertebrae are then immobilized relative to one another. Eventually, the adjacent vertebrae grow into one solid piece of bone.
Removing the disc and fusing the vertebrae together generally relieves the back pain. However, the fused segments decrease movement and limits the range of motion of the spine. Moreover, fusing the segments together places additional stress on adjacent vertebral segments. The increased stress may increase or initiate degeneration of the adjacent vertebral segments. Thus, for less severe diseased discs, the conventional treatment of fusion maybe an overly aggressive or traumatic solution.
Less severe diseased discs still subject the person to some back pain. Typically, the back pain can be associated with inflammation or instability of the disc. Inflammation can arise from numerous factors, including, for example, the proteins in the disc space or disc nucleus. Instability can also arise from numerous factors, including, for example, when the disc annulus wears down, is damaged, or is compromised (through a hole, tear, or the like), the ability of the disc annulus to resist movement results in instability and may cause pain. Dehydration of the disc also can cause back pain or the like.
In these less severe cases, the treatment may include surgical alternatives. Surgical alternatives include diet, weight control, exercise, stretching, medication, and the like. While helpful, the surgical alternatives frequently only delay the degenerative process and may only partially relieve pain. Thus, it would be desirous to provide other methods and apparatuses to repair, support, or otherwise treat the intervertebral disc.